Cagliari loses the Marina Cafè Noir after 23 years: "We would have liked the proper recognition for this event."

After 23 years of books, stories, and meetings, the Marina Cafè Noir is leaving Cagliari. The festival, created to bring culture to everyone, regardless of social or cultural barriers, is suspending its activities in the city, marking the end of an era for the island's cultural life.

Marina Cafè Noir has never been a conventional festival. From the beginning, it has transformed squares, theaters, and neighborhoods into meeting places, often helping to revitalize city spaces and restore them to the community in a new light. The project has focused on originality, hospitality, and attention to pressing issues , hosting Italian and international authors, becoming a point of reference recognized by guides, magazines, and national media.

Over the years, Mcn has created an inclusive cultural space where everyone can feel welcome, engage in dialogue, and discover new worlds. The festival has showcased the city of Cagliari and made it known beyond the island and beyond Italy, becoming one of Sardinia's most vibrant cultural experiences.

Despite recognition and notoriety, however, the relationship with local administrations has become increasingly complicated.

The organization denounces a contradictory use of bureaucracy, which has made it difficult to operate with serenity and a sense of collaboration.

The perception of being seen as a burden rather than a cultural resource led the organizers, through the Chourmo Cultural Association, to make the painful decision to suspend the festival in Cagliari and seek new spaces in which to continue the project.

"We don't want open doors or fast-track lanes," the promoters explain, "we just wanted proper recognition for a festival that has lasted 23 years and has shaped the city's cultural life." Despite everything, Mcn will continue elsewhere, bringing with it its history of emotion, hard work, sweat, and satisfaction.

The future of the Marina Cafè Noir therefore remains open : the festival will continue to bring books, meetings, and stories to new locations, with the same energy and passion that have made it unique, while Cagliari finds itself dealing with the absence of a cultural project that for decades has spoken to the city and the world.